How to make it

In a large, heavy pot or soup kettle, heat the oil over medium-high heat. When the oil is hot, add the chicken, and then cook for 4-5 minutes, stirring regularly.

Add the onion and garlic. Don't be too concerned about things sticking and even burning just a bit on the bottom of the kettle; this is what gives the soup its flavor.

When everything starts to brown up, about 5 more minutes, add the CAYENNE PEPPER and GINGER. Adding the full amount of CAYENNE PEPPER will make the soup fairly hot; if you are unsure, start with the smaller amount and adjust upward to taste toward the end of cooking.

Stir constantly for about a minute, and then add the broth.

Let everything come to a slow boil and then reduce the heat to low, cover, and simmer for at least 20 minutes.

In the meantime, bring a separate pot of water for the noodles to a boil, add noodles and cook for 1 minute less than the recommended cooking time on the bag.

Drain the noodles and add to the pot of soup, turn off the soup, let stand 5 minutes and serve.

Top each bowl with a sprinkling of chopped scallions.

NOTES-Noodles don't reheat very well, so if the soup won't be eaten all at once, add some cooked noodles to each bowl, top with soup, let stand a few minutes for the noodles to absorb the good chicken flavor, and keep the rest of the noodles in a covered container in the fridge to add to the reheated soup the next day, or just cook new ones. Also, if you have fresh ginger available, you can use 1 tablespoon of fresh minced ginger root in place of the powdered ginger.